Japan seeks military strength at will: Comment

As the president of the House of Councilors announced "passed", Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba scraped a great bow to the senates who voted for the approval, unable to express his excitement about it. On Jun 14, at the plenary session with the approval of the Liberal Democratic Party in the office, the Komei Party and the Democratic Party, the largest party not in the office, the Japanese House of Councilors passed the seven bills, and the bills together with the three bills of the "National Emergency Law System" passed in last June came to form a complete emergency system for coping with the war. With this in hand Japan may resort to armed forces to provide a "legal" and full support to the US military operation when it feels some event is about to happen or having a premonition that emergency might come to happen. The "National Emergency Law System" has made Japan go farther away from the constitution of peace.

A scheme of 40 years
As early as in June 1963, officials of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces started a study plan for military manoeuvre in a secret way. This was the "National Emergency Law System" in the embryo. In 1977, Fukuda Takeo, the Japanese Prime Minister then taking the advantage of mapping out the Nippon-US defence cooperation directory, gave the order to make a study on the emergency legislation.

When the Cold War came to an end, there ever occurred at least three times of legislative motions within the Japanese government and the Liberal Democratic Party. The first time was at the moment when it was going to work out the law concerning peripheral affairs in 1977, the second time was in August 1998 when the DPRK launched the ballistic missile and in March 1999 after the happening of the event of suspected boat while the third time was in March 2001 Yoshiro Mori decided to set up a study group for the study on and preparation of the emergency legislation.

In Jun 6, 2003 after a period of 40 years after the study plan was put forward the plenary session of the Japanese House of Councilors passed the relevant three acts for the emergency legislation. And again in June along with the Japanese dispatching its troops to Iraq the other seven bills got smoothly passed. This was the radical change for Japan's defence limited to its own territory and coastal waters, the policy Japan adhered to for a long time in the past.

Frequent breakthrough of constitution for peace
After the end of the World War II, Japan worked out the constitution for peace, prohibiting clearly sending troops abroad but actually this was frequently broken through.

In 1992, the Japanese government made a forcible breakthrough of the constitution by sending the minesweeper of the Maritime Self-Defence Forces into the Persian Gulf. In June 1992, the Japanese Diet passed the cooperation bill for the UN activities of maintaining peace, sending first batch of its troops to Cambodia for peacekeeping activities there. In 1994, the Japanese government made a revision of the bill of its Self-defence Forces, making the overseas military activities one of the important functions of its Self-Defence Forces.

In the middle of 1990s, Japan made ceaseless activities for the strengthening of the Japan-US security system. In September 1997 a new directory of Japan-US defence cooperation put the future war in Taiwan Straits into its sphere. In May 1999, the act of peripheral affairs passed by Japan can not only extend at will its defence areas but can also provide logistic supports to the US troops. And further in October 2001, Japan passed the anti-terrorist bill allowing Japan to offer assistance to the US in its anti-terrorist activities

A comprehensive law for aiding the US army
The three bills concerning the National Emergency Law System passed last year and the related seven bills is on the whole a comprehensive law for supporting the US army. And as to the defined area of "national emergency" Japan has never breathed a word about it. That is to say, whatever Japan wants to do can do according to its own requirement.

The article, carried on Global Times, June 21, is translated by People's Daily Online



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